I haven't had much time to work on my 800 and things have slowed. Have thought about selling it but changed my mind, just couldn't do it.

I did learn the hard way that grease or gasket sealant is needed (or is a good idea) on the bottom transmission plate gasket. When I serviced it a few months back, I just put the gasket in dry and bolted everything back up. About a month later, I had a slow drip out the left side. Tried snugging up the bolts even more, but it did no good and I ended up snapping/breaking one of the split washers on one of the bolts. I ended up draining the oil and replacing the gasket with another new one, this time adding some gasket sealant on both sides of the gasket before bolting the bottom plate back in. Now it's all good. I used Permatex gasket sealant instead of plain grease, but upon inspection, the Permatex is the same consistency of axel grease, not a slippery though.

The tractor is running, but still only with the choke on. I have to get it sorted so I can enjoy it.

I pulled the rebuilt carb off, went through it with the old manual next to me and adjusted the float. Put it all back together, she fired right up and I am in business. Took a cruise from back to front, down the street a bit and then back to the shed. She ran good.

My neighbor came out and told me I needed to put a muffler on it. It has a muffler on it, that's the best part.

I'll be pulling the rims and tires off next to start stripping them and mounting some new tires.

Took the 800 out for a spin today and noticed I could not get it into gear at dead stop without grinding the gears. If I disengaged the ider pulley for the speed selector, I could get it in gear. But then, I would have to let the clutch out, then engage the drive belt to get going without any grinding. I parked it and crawled underneath to look at the clutch. Not really sure what it is supposed to look like, but here is a picture of the clutch with the clutch/brake pedal pressed. There is a free spinning disk sandwiched in between the front and rear clutch plates. Is it supposed to be like that or did my clutch pad(s) come loose?

If I do need a new clutch, can someone point me in the right direction for any instructions on the process? Thanks again.

Well, I haven't been in here in some time as my progress has ground to a halt. The engine is running good but the clutch is now the problem. It think I have to buy new discs and re-do the clutch. It slows the tractor down when clutch/brake is pushed in but does not stop the drive. Not sure exactly what parts I need to fix it other than the clutch disks. I guess I'll find out when I get around to diving into it.

Most of your issues will be resolved adding a brake drum to the rear , I just did that on my Bolens 900 so I was able to use it again , most parts can still be had for them, only thing I had to fab was weld a single tab on the brake lever arm to attach the brake drum linkage